This invention relates to a portable carrying case for a mobile office. The case may be closed down for transporting a number of interconnected electronic devices from place to place, and may be opened up for immediate use of those devices upon or within the frame of the carrying case.
Although laptop computers are highly convenient devices, having a number of functions within one easily transported box, at this time there are few if any convenient stand-alone, portable, standardised computers which also include a printer, a data communications link via such as the cellular telephone network, paper storage, and the like. In the absence of that, a person may carry a collection of items including separate electronic devices, interconnecting leads, and paper. The leads have to be repeatedly plugged in then unplugged for transport and in time will fail. Sometimes a vital component is lost or forgotten. Connection and disconnection takes a significant amount of time, patience, and skill. A working surface area may not be available. Yet the trend towards using mobile offices that can be brought to a client""s address for an appointment, and operated (perhaps to generate orders, insurance proposals, or the like) is growing.
The problem to be solved may be described as xe2x80x9cProvision of a mobile office within a convenient, transportable container, capable of being carried about, opened, and used with a minimum of inconvenience.
An unpublished antecedent of the instant invention included a frame, but (like U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,367 Martin) had the printer folding out on a hinged tray through 90 degrees, facing the user, and above the laptop. Rigid struts were used to hold the printer in that position. Further rigid struts held the computer tray perpendicular to the frame when in use, to resist a tendency for collapse. A complex power supply was provided to supply all equipment with the specified DC voltage and current; thus that device was locked to a certain set of electronic devices. A review of the patent literature also indicates that there have been a number of attempts to solve this problem over the last 20 years. Some prior art is summarised below:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,590 Sprague provides a carrying case with a hollow rectangular base and a hinged cover. A laptop is anchored on a first platform; a printer is on a second platform beside and at the same level as the laptop (with paper stored beneath). Battery storage is provided beneath the first platform. The case would be at least 500-550 mm wide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,837 Chang provides a xe2x80x9cthree layeredxe2x80x9d laptop computer assembly which places a printer directly behind, and in line with the laptop when in use. If not in use the printer folds back, over the top of the closed laptop. The invention includes hinges but no protective case
U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,948 Holmberg provides a transportable work station within an attache case, in which an arrangement of guide rails on internal side walls provides that a printer held above a computer is moved backward when the case is opened, into a working position. The internal side walls obstruct access to each side of the laptop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,988 Brown shows a durable outer shell with shock barrier walls around a main and a secondary storage compartment. It appears that in use the laptop is considerably higher above a work surface than the printer, which is ergonomically inadvisable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,001 Marceau teaches a soft briefcase-style case; the laptop is suspended within, in order to protect against shock. The case has an xe2x80x9copened-out mobile office modexe2x80x9d in that the laptop may be lifted out and operated upon an exterior flap, which when opened out exposes some office resources.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,628 Bradbury provides a compact workstation having its own battery and power distribution and with many optional devices,. On opening the attache case a computer tray is moved forward by levers, relative to a printer tray. However the keyboard of the laptop is lifted well above a work surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,574 Chang now adds a protective housing to the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,837; an attache case having first (shallow) and second (deep) shells; a user can work the computer over the low front wall of the first shell while higher walls on the second shell enclose a tray holding a printer connected to the computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,119 Hollingsworth describes another carrying case for a laptop or other delicate instrument. This case when closed has a similar profile to that of the present invention (when closed) but provides only an aperture, accessible from above, for carrying a laptop and no provision for transformation into a mobile office.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,893 Ruiz holds a laptop computer within an attache case, above a partition, and it is said that the laptop is more easily used because of the elevation There is no printer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,367 Martin provides a wheeled carrying case; two shell halves are hinged together. Two internal shelves each holding an electronic device may be rotated out through 90 degrees and down from the vertically opened case to be locked into position, when changing mode from a xe2x80x9ccarryxe2x80x9d position to a xe2x80x9cusexe2x80x9d position. When in use the case derives some stability from the other shell half which lies alongside the working position (FIG. 2). The height of the case must be at least 500-550 mm.
U.S. design 344074 to Collins is for a suitcase holding a laptop and other compartments (resembling a font tray but the laptop is well to the rear and at one side and would be inconvenient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,022 Harvey describes a compact modular portable workstation within an impact resistant carrying case. All cables to peripherals are shielded and a cellular telephone is shielded from a user. A laptop in a tray is caused to emerge by a lever when the case is opened, but it is at a considerable height above a working surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,567 Tao describes a folding rack system for a mobile office. A lower shelf is for a laptop and a second shelf is for a peripheral such as a printer. Devices may remain connected. The printer folds back over the laptop when in a carrying mode. Levers and pivots control the movement. This is like Chang (U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,837). U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,475 LeVander describes a carrying case for a mobile office, having a top-loading printer located beside a laptop computer and includes a slot in a front wall of the base of the case for paper egress. The case length must be at least 500-550 mm
It can be seen that despite the presence of a number of published inventions for carrying cases applicable to mobile offices few offer a small xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d, protection during transport, and convenient, ergonomically acceptable access.
xe2x80x9cLaptop-style personal computerxe2x80x9d We shall use the term xe2x80x9claptopxe2x80x9d in this specification to refer to a class of personal digital computer adapted for self-contained operation (including power storage and display device) and with a high degree of portability. Computers of this type are available from many manufacturers. The invention is not to be taken as being limited to that specific range or type of data processing devices. It may refer to a simple xe2x80x9cdumbxe2x80x9d terminal. Future developments may even replace the LCD screen of the laptop with a retinal projection device, while the only input used is speech, so removing the present xe2x80x9cconvenient; human-compatible size of keyboard and screenxe2x80x9d constraint.
xe2x80x9cPortablexe2x80x9d refers to an ability to take something about from place to place.
xe2x80x9cMobile officexe2x80x9d means an assembly including facilities for information handling, printing, scanning and telecommunications. Telecommunications includes faxes, emails, and remote access to networks (wide-area networking) as well as to the Internet. A mobile office preferably includes attributes of compactness, simple setting up and closing down and portability, so that the assembly can be carried to a place and operated at the place.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved carrying case for a mobile office, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
In a first broad aspect this invention provides a carrying case for a mobile office including a set of one or more interconnected electronic devices (such as a laptop with a printer), the carrying case including a rectangular frame with a bottom, two sides, and a top, for holding and transporting the electronic devices from place to place, and which carrying case may be opened at a place for use of the one or more devices upon or within the frame, wherein a first support tray is outwardly rotatable in a first direction from a carrying position within the frame to a first limited extent of 90 degrees of rotation about a first pivotable mount along the bottom of the frame; a second support tray is outwardly rotatable from a carrying position within the frame in a second, opposing direction through a second limited extent of 270 degrees of rotation about a second pivotable mount parallel to and adjacent to the top of the frame, so that the weight of a first device held in the first tray tends to counterbalance the weight of a second device held in the second tray, so that the opened-up carrying case presents the one or more devices for use in a stable configuration.
In a first related aspect the invention provides means to limit the extent of the outward rotation of the first support tray comprises at least one inextensible cord attached between a side of the frame and a side of the first support tray.
In a second related aspect the invention provides means to limit the extent of the outward rotation of the second support tray comprises contact between the top of the frame and an underneath portion of the second support tray.
In a subsidiary aspect each pivotable mount comprises at least one hinge; a first leaf of which hinge is attached to the frame and a second leaf of which hinge is attached to the support tray.
In a third related aspect the invention provides a first tray, adapted to hold a first electronic device having at least a front, two sides, a top, and a rear; wherein the device is protected by a fixed resilient mass placed about the periphery of the device; the resilient mass being of sufficient thickness and resilience to prevent damage to the electronic device.
In a subsidiary aspect, the invention provides a carrying case for a mobile office in which a custom fitting for the first electronic device within or framed by the fixed resilient mass is obtained by a process of cutting an aperture from a sheet of resilient material.
Preferably the resilient material is a foam rubber or the like.
In a fourth related aspect the invention provides a carrying case including a set of cleats capable of holding a stowed power cable, and provides facilities for distributing electric power received through the power cable to the one or more devices.
In a fifth related aspect the invention provides a carrying case also holding internal wiring capable of interconnecting at least two devices so that data may be exchanged between the at least two devices, and so that the at least two devices do not require repeated interconnection after transport and prior to use.
In a sixth related aspect the invention provides a carrying case with a frame bearing on an outer surface thereof a plurality of blocks capable of supporting the weight of the carrying case even if loaded; wherein blocks at the sides of the frame are capable of reversible engagement with complementary notches in the frame of a wheeled caddie so that the carrying case can be coupled to the caddie and wheeled about yet no impulse forces are directly applied to the bottom of the frame.
In a seventh related aspect the invention provides a carrying case including an electrically shielded exterior bonded to the frame, so that the contents are at least partially protected from static discharges capable of damaging electronic components, and in order to minimise electromagnetic radiation during use.
Preferably the electrically shielded exterior comprises a conductive coating within the woven shell.
In an eighth related aspect the invention provides a carrying case wherein printer power passes through an intermediate series of cables including part of a data cable so that only one cable is flexed when the printer is opened out from its carrying position.
Preferably more than one conductors of a wide ribbon cable are used for each DC wire, while the remainder are used for carrying data.
In a second broad aspect the invention provides a mobile office built within a carrying case as previously described in this section.
The description of the invention to be provided herein is given purely by way of example and is not to be taken in any way as limiting the scope or extent of the invention.